Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors



Dec. 16, 1947. F, DlTCHFlELD 2,432,733-

LIFTING MECIIIISIVIy FOR SLIDING CAR DOORS Filed March 7, 1945 PatentedDec. 16, 1947 LIFTING MECHANISM FOR SLIDING CAR DOORS Frank Ditchfield,Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to The Youngstown Steel Door Company,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 7, 1945, SerialNo. 581,480

8 Claims. (Cl. 16-99) This invention relates to lifting mechanism forsliding car doors.

It is an object of this invention to provide lifting mechanism forsliding car doors which shall lie within the most critical tunnelclearance diagram and aiTord ample working clearances between theseveral parts of the mechanism.

A further object is to provide lifting mechanism for sliding car doorswhich shall obtain a reduction in the number of parts heretoforerequired.

A further object is to provide lifting mechanism for sliding car doorswhich shall eliminate all castings.

A further object is to provide lifting mechanism for sliding car doorswhich shall be simple and sturdy in construction and secure areductionin cost.

A further object is to provide lifting mechanism for sliding car doorswhich shall embody connecting arms so constructed as to providetrunnions for the mechanism.

A further object is to provide lifting mechanism for sliding car doorswhich shall embody cori-w necting arms so constructed as to providetrunnions for the mechanism and receive the pins for the roller of thelift mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the descriptionthereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation with parts broken away of a slidingcar door equipped with lifting mechanism embodying the instantinvention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings the numeral I designates a sliding door forrailway house cars. The door is cf known construction and briefly may bedescribed as embodying a metallic panel II formed with horizontalcorrugations, one of which is indicated at I2. At the vertical marginsthe metallic panel is offset outwardly as indicated f at I3 and I4 andis secured as by means of rivets I5 and I5 to verticalV reinforcingmembers indicated generally by the reference numeral-s I1 and I8.

The lower marginal portion of the metallic panel is offset outwardly asindicated at I9 so as to provide a vertical depending portion 2|) whichis secured to the upstanding flange 2| of a Z shaped reinforcing member22. A metallic `backing plate 23 is secured to the panel II above theoutwardly offset portion I9 and to the depending flange 24 of theZ-shaped reinforcing member 22. The outwardly offset portion of thepanel I I, the backing plate 23 and the Z-shaped reinforcing member 22cooperate to provide a box section 25 2 within which the liftingmechanism embodying the instant invention is housed.

The upper portion of the door is substantially similar to the upperportion of the door illustrated and described in applicants co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 465,233, led November 11, 1942.

The lifting mechanism embodies a plurality of spaced rollers 26--26which are adapted to support the door for movement upon a track 21supported by means of a plurality of brackets one of which is shownpartially at 28 upon the underframe 29 of the car. The rollers engagethe track through openings 3|! formed in the web of the bottom Z-shapedreinforcing member 22.

Each of the rollers is mounted upon a pin 3| which extends eccentricallyfrom and is integral with an outer trunnion 32. Each of the trunnions 32is journalled in the door and for this purpose a bearing 33 is provided.The lower half of the bearing 33 is formed in the upstanding flange ofthe Z-shaped door reinforcing member 22 and the upper half of thebearing 33 is formed in a plate 34 which is disposed above and lies inthe same plane as the flange 2| of the Z-shaped member, as more clearlyappears from Figs, 1 and 2 of the drawings. The plate 34 may, ifdesired, be welded to the ange 2 I.

A connecting arm 35 is mounted upon each of the roller pins 3| and isconstrained to rotate with said pin as by means of splines 36. `Eachconnecting arm 35 is extended in the form of an integralboss 3 1 whichis hollow, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, and through whichthe roller pin 3| extends eccentrically.- Each of the bosses 31 servesas an inner trunnion for the lifting mechanism and for this purpose isjournalled in a bearing 38 formed in the web 39 of a channel shapedmember 43. The legs 4I- and 42 of the channel shaped member are flangedoutwardly as indicated at 43 and 44. The anges 43 and 44 bear againstthe inner face of the upstanding ange 2| and the bearing plate 34 andare secured thereto as by means of rivets 45 and 46.

Each of the pins 3| is retained against outward movement relative to thedoor and for this purpose the inner ends of the pins are preferablypeened over as indicated at 41.

The left-hand outer trunnion 32 is formed with flat faces 48 and 49. Alever 5U formed with similar internal faces is mounted upon saidtrunnion and is retained upon the door and guided in its movement bymeans of a quadrant 5I secured to the door and a Z-shaped clip 52fastened to the inner face of the lever in the manner more clearlyillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

The lever 50 is utilized to operate the lifting 3 mechanism and in orderto insure uniform lifting of the door the arms 35 are connected by meansof a bar 53 shown in the form of a pipe having ilattened ends throughwhich lugs 54 integral with the arms 35 extend, Disengagement of theconnecting bar from the lugs 54 is prevented by' means of cotter pins 55which extend throughy the lugs.

In order to lift the door and support it for easy movement upon therollers 25-26 the operating lever 5B is moved in clockwise direction.Movement of rotation is thereby imparted to the outer trunnion 32 andthrough the pin 3l to the inner trunnion 31. In view of the fact thatthe pin 3| is eccentric to the trunnions 32 and 31 a lifting force isimparted to the door thereby raising it above the track 21 upon which itis normally frictionally supported and supporting it upon the rollers26-26 for movement along the track.

It is apparent from the foregoing invention that castings heretoforeutilized in lifting mechanisms of the type involved have beeneliminated. It will also be apparent that the roller housings alsoheretofore used have been eliminated and thatln addition to the savingseffected thereby the ldepth of the lifting mechanism has beensubstantially decreased without the sacrifice of the clearance betweenthe several parts of the lifting mechanism. The instant mechanismtherefore aids in reducing the overall width between the doors onopposite sides of the cars and thereby makes it possible to providelifting mechanism which satises the most critical tunnel clearancediagram.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in thedetails of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. Itis intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes becomprehended within this invention, which is to be limited only by thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: n

1. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors comprising a plurality ofintegral eccentrically related trunnion and pin members, rollers mountedupon said pins, connecting arms, said arms embodying integral hollowtrunnions, said pins extending into said hollow trunnions in eccentricrelationship therewith, means constraining said pins to rotate with saidlatter trunnions, means on the inside of a said door connecting saidarms for simultaneous movement, and a lever mounted upon a trunnion ofone of said integral trunnion and pin members,

2'. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors comprising a plurality ofeccentrically united trunnion and pin members, rollers mounted upon saidpins, connecting arms, hollow trunnions on said arms, said pinsextending into said hollow trunnions in eccentric relationshiptherewith, means constraining said pins to rotate with said lattertrunnions, means on the inside of a said door connecting said arms forsimultaneous movement, and a lever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

3. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors comprising a plurality oftrunnions, pins cf smaller diameter than said trunnions extendingeccentrically from said trunnions and rotatable therewith, rollersmounted on said pins, connecting arms, hollow trunnions on said arms,said pins extending into said hollow trunnions in eccentric relationshiptherewith, means constraining said pins to rotate with said latterltrunnions, means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement, and alever mounted upon one of said trunnions.

4. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors comprising a plurality oftrunnions, pins integral with and of smaller diameter than saidtrunnions extending eccentrically therefrom, rollers mounted on saidpins, connecting arms, integral hollow trunnions on said arms, said pinsextending into said hollow trunnions in eccentric relationshiptherewith, means constraining said pins to rotate with said lattertrunnions, means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement, andmeans for imparting rotation to one of said trunnions.

5. Lifting mechanism `for sliding car doors comprising a plurality oftrunnions adapted to be journalled in a said door, pins extendingeccentrically from and rotatable with said trunnions, rollers mounted onsaid pins, connecting arms adapted to be journalled in said door, saidarms being eccentrically mounted upon said pins for rotation therewith,means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement and a lever mountedon one of said trunnions said rollers, pins and connecting arms lying onthe same side of said door.

6. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors comprising a plurality oftrunnions, pins extending eccentrically from and rotatable with saidtrunnions, rollers mounted on said pins, connecting arms, trunnions onsaid arms, said pins extending into said arms in eccentric relationshipwith said arm trunnions, means constraining said pins to rotate withsaid arms, means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement, and alever mounted on one of said trunnions.

'7. Lifting mechanism for sliding car doors lcomprising a plurality oftrunnions, pins of smaller diameter than said trunnions extendingeccentrically therefrom and rotatable therewith, rollers having aninternal diameter smaller than the diameter of said trunnions mountedupon said pins, connecting arms, trunnions on said arms, said pins beingconnected to said arms for rotation therewith in eccentric relationshipwith said arm trunnions, said arms extending beyond the periphery ofsaid rollers, means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement, anda lever mounted on one of said trunnions.

8. In a sliding lift door having a box section at the lower edge thereofembodying transversely spaced walls, a plurality of trunnions journalledin one of said walls, a plurality of connecting arms disposed betweensaid walls formed with trunnions journalled in the other of said walls,pins extending between and rotatable with said rst mentioned trunnionsand said arms, said pins being eccentric relative to said firstmentioned trunnions and said arm trunnions, rollers mounted on saidpins, means connecting said arms for simultaneous movement, and a levermounted on one of said trunnions on the outside of said door.

FRANK DITCHFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,357,771 Geiger Nov. 2, 19202,187,907 Madland J an. 23, 1940

